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Pre-Doctoral Program:
The University of Wisconsin offers masters and Ph.D. programs in over 150 fields, and is one of the largest graduate programs in the country. A major emphasis at our institution is on interdepartmental and inter-school collaboration in graduate education. Our training program in respiratory neurobiology fits beautifully within this context, bringing together trainers from 6 different departments (Comparative Biosciences, Population Health Sciences, Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery) in two schools (Veterinary Medicine and Medicine).
Pre-doctoral trainees are enrolled in existing graduate degree programs suitable to their career goals. Specifically, students enroll in non-departmental, discipline based graduate programs (Neuroscience Training Program, Cell and Molecular Biology) or in programs administered by specific departments (Physiology, Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Kinesiology and Biomedical Engineering). Thus, pre-doctoral students may have their graduate program administered by any department or program in which their principal trainer (major professor) holds an affiliation. An important feature of the graduate programs at the University of Wisconsin is that all graduate courses are available to any graduate student, regardless of their program affiliation-they are regarded simply as members of the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin. Thus, our current arrangement allows considerable flexibility in the individual graduate programs undertaken by pre-doctoral trainees funded with this grant.
Pre-doctoral candidates for admission to our training program in respiratory neurobiology must be admitted by the University of Wisconsin Graduate School for study toward the Ph.D. degree and, subsequently, by the individual graduate degree programs (e.g. Neuroscience, Physiology, Comparative Biomedical Science, etc.). Pre-doctoral trainees funded by this grant can apply directly for admission to these graduate degree programs, contacting members of our training program only after their admission. However, more frequently, candidates approach one of our trainers directly prior to applying for admission to the Graduate School. The trainee and trainer, in consultation, then select the appropriate degree program to foster his/her career development.
Before a pre-doctoral trainee is funded by our grant, approval from the Steering Committee is necessary (in addition to admission to the Graduate School and the degree program). Often, a trainee has already selected a specific laboratory and mentor prior to matriculation at the University of Wisconsin. In these cases, we do not require laboratory rotations. However, if a specific mentor has not yet been chosen, trainees will be allowed to rotate through the laboratories of two or more trainers during their first year of graduate school. The trainee then selects a major professor for purposes of pursuing their thesis research at the end of the first year. In each of the graduate degree programs normally chosen by our trainees, an advisory (thesis) committee of five faculty is convened to oversee their academic and scientific progress, and to advise them concerning their course selections.
Trainees are required to achieve satisfactory (B or higher) performance from courses meeting the requirements of the degree program. We require that every pre-doctoral trainee funded by this training grant take coursework at both the cellular/molecular and the systems/organism levels. For example, students enrolled in the Neuroscience Training Program would take cellular/molecular neurobiology (Neuroscience 610) as well as a systems neurobiology course (Neuroscience 611) as a core curriculum. Additional course requirements are distributed between neuroscience specialty courses (with required breadth between cell/molecular and systems), and non-neuroscience courses of relevance to their scientific training (e.g. statistics and experimental design). Students also undertake formal training in ethics and professional survival skills (see below) and participate extensively in our various journal clubs and seminar series. We place a high premium on assuring that all trainees speak regularly through seminars on their research, journal club presentations and teaching experiences so that they are highly proficient in oral communication skills by the end of their program. An equal emphasis is placed on the development of written communication skills. Special educational experiences designed specifically for the trainees supplement their formal course requirements (e.g. short courses at other venues see below). Preliminary or qualifying exams, completion of a series of research studies on a theme forming the doctoral dissertation and the successful presentation and defense of the thesis research form the remaining basis of requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Research training (beyond the formal course work) to completion of the Ph.D. degree usually takes two to three years.
The major professor and the thesis committee are responsible for monitoring the pre-doctoral trainees' performance in course work and research. Strict requirements set regular meetings of the thesis committee. Research progress is also monitored by trainee presentations made during "in progress" research meetings.
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Updated 06/29/2007